Silence Speaks More
by Peppermint Kiss
Summary: Tezuka and Fuji have a merry Christmas and reflect on how they got to where they were today. Very fluffy! Fic written for a Secret Santa gift-fic exchange. Enjoy!


**_Fic written for the Pointless but Original Talking Forum Secret Santa Fic Exchange._**

**Request Number:** 07  
**Pairing/Groups:** _Perfect_, Thrill, Sweet, Smiling. Any other pairing would do, though.  
**Squicks/Turn Offs in Fic:**I'm fine with anything. Just... no improper grammar/spelling/smut beyond R.  
**Interests in Fic:** Fluff! Or angst! Actually, anything's fine. Really.  
**Gen/Het/Slash/Smut/None/All-of-the-above?:** Anything. Just no explicit smut.  
**Request:**Fluff would be nice. It's a holiday fic after all, right? xD Pairing-wise, anything is fine, but Thrill would be special if you could write it in Fuji-POV. Hmmm. Just write any pairing of your choice, really.

* * *

**Silence Speaks More **[Perfect pair]

It was a cold December morning when Tezuka Kunimitsu blinked open his eyes and concluded that he couldn't possibly be awake, because he was dreaming.

The angelic voice he heard calling "Kunimitsu, Kunimitsu" could only be in his dreams, anyways.

The dream turned to reality, however, when a lithe, warm body collided into the cocoon Tezuka made with his bundles of blankets and comforters.

"Ooof – Shuusuke, what?" Tezuka asked, cross that his dream had entered reality as the cold December air seeped into his limbs.

"It's snowing," Fuji Shuusuke said simply, sitting on Tezuka's stomach in only a pair of flannel pajama bottoms and Tezuka's charcoal-gray sweater.

It took a few moments for the key word in Fuji's sentence, "snow", to filter through Tezuka's groggy mind in those content early morning moments of silence.

"Snow?" Tezuka's hand rummaged on the bedside table for his glasses before slipping them on and sitting up to stare transfixed out of the window, where Fuji had yanked the curtains apart.

"It hasn't snowed in Tokyo since we were…seven, was it?" he breathed, slipping his bare arms out from under the comforter and around Fuji's slender body.

"It's magical, isn't it?" Fuji murmured, unconsciously leaning back into Tezuka's body, an action repeated so many times before that it was not second nature to both of them – Tezuka to wrap his arms around Fuji, and Fuji to lean back into Tezuka's embrace.

Tezuka's only reply was a barely audible "Aa," as the two lovers peacefully watched the snow fall in big, fluffy flakes onto the Tokyo streets below.

--

"When are we meeting Momo and the others for lunch today?" Fuji asked some time later, when the snow had mostly stopped and Tezuka had slipped out from under the covers, looking devastatingly handsome with his toned body and golden skin in only a loose-fitting pair of black silk pajama bottoms.

"We're meeting Momo…and the others…for lunch today?" Tezuka echoed faintly after he pulled a cream-colored sweater over his head, tousling his messy hair even more and slightly displacing his glasses.

Fuji barely repressed a sigh of dismay as that stretch of tanned skin disappeared from his hungry gaze. "Yes Kunimitsu, it's Christmas Day."

Tezuka glanced at the calendar on the wall of their bedroom and realized with a start that indeed today was Thursday, December 25th. Fuji's neat hand had written under the red circle "Lunch with Eiji, Oishi and possibly others."

Ever since the third-years at Seigaku had graduated and moved on to high school, it had become habit for the whole team to gather at this one small restaurant that served fabulous ramen and all-you-could-eat sushi that was conveniently open on Christmas Day. There, they would swap stories about their going-ons, and reminisce in old times, especially with "ochibi" – Echizen Ryoma.

The third year of high school, when Tezuka and Fuji were seniors, was particularly momentous – it was virtually a repeat of their third year in middle school. The whole team had stuck with Seigaku through high school, and as Ryoma joined the team fresh from being captain of the Seigaku middle school tennis team, Seigaku was undefeatable in every tournament they played in.

In the team picture after winning the National Championship (for the high school division, mind), Tezuka allowed himself a rare smile.

As college separated the team further and further, as many members of the team as possible still tried to congregate in the same restaurant Christmas Day to share stories of what was happening in their life.

Some members stuck around in Tokyo, such as Tezuka and Fuji, but others, like Inui, left. The data master followed a scholarship halfway around the world to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to specialize in data analysis (which was particularly fitting).

Tezuka had grown too accustomed to Tokyo to bear to leave it, so he stayed at the University of Tokyo for medical school to become a cardiothoracic surgeon one day. Fuji, as faithful as ever, also stayed, pursuing his dream of a journalist by writing for the _Tokyo Times_ as well as doing freelance photography in his free time.

Kaidoh had moved to Shanghai to work for a large Chinese conglomerate, and Taka opened an offshoot of his father's famed sushi restaurant in Osaka.

Oishi and Eiji attended university in Kyoto, and stayed in Kyoto to pursue education degrees to become teachers (primary school for Eiji, and middle school math for Oishi).

Echizen Ryoma, the group's special ochibi, had skipped college to go straight to the pro ranking, setting the tennis world on fire with his famous Twist Serve. Ryoma was now the number one ranked player in the world, and the whole team was tremendously proud of him. Momo, as loud as ever, had followed Ryoma and was now his manager that liked to brag about what Ryoma did to everybody that listened. Often, it was the celebrity tennis player that had to drag his loudmouth manager away to relative sanity.

"Aa," Tezuka mumbled, disgruntled at having forgot about the annual Christmas lunch with some of the closest people he could call friends. "I think Oishi left a message, saying it was at 11:30."

"11:30 it is," Fuji breathed, his fingers feathering over Tezuka's jaw and making the other man's breath hitch. "What shall we do to occupy our time until then?"

"Nnnrf—" was Tezuka's answer as Fuji's lips covered his, and he thought dizzily for the umpteenth time how Fuji's sculpted lips slid so perfectly around his own.

The shorter man tasted like the strong coffee he liked the drink in the morning, Tezuka thought. It was a taste he had long grown used to.

When they finally parted, Tezuka crushed Fuji into his body again. "You could always take a shower with me," he said huskily.

Fuji beamed. "I'd like that."

* * *

Tezuka knew he was a lucky man. He got the whole, undivided attention of one Fuji Shuusuke all to himself.

The Fuji Shuusuke that girls had tried so hard to catch the eye of, only to be rejected with an innocent smile and a flash of blue eyes.

Tezuka greedily took in Fuji's pale skin as he daintily stepped into the hot water with Tezuka, seeking comfort in Tezuka's strong arms.

His arms wrapped around his love as Fuji buried his head into Tezuka's shoulder, damp hair caressing his skin.

They usually didn't talk, instead choosing to savor the moment. Tezuka dipped his head, leaving hot, open-mouthed kisses down the sensitive skin of Fuji's neck.

Fuji arched his back in response, a quiet mewl issuing from his mouth, as he clutched Tezuka tighter and threw back his head to give Tezuka better access to his neck.

Tezuka Kunimitsu was definitely a lucky man.

* * *

Many people puzzled about the story of Tezuka and Fuji. They had never thought that either one would be gay, least of all Tezuka. Tezuka's own parents had accepted the news well enough, but Tezuka could see the dream they had of their only son marrying a quiet, intelligent girl that matched him in personality slipping away in their eyes.

Tezuka wasn't really quite sure how it happened either. He knew that he had pined over Fuji for the longest time, but hadn't thought about it because he knew that Fuji reciprocating his love was impossible. Whenever the nagging thought of "Fuji" came up, Tezuka pushed it away, locking it in his safe vault of memories in the back of his mind that he rarely touched.

They were friends first, of course, being the best of friends since the beginning of first grade, when Fuji, the new student from Chiba, smiled at Tezuka and offered him half a chocolate bar.

They stayed close throughout the rest of primary school and middle school, until puberty hit and Tezuka started noticing how warm Fuji's touch was, how expressive his blue eyes could be (or even when they were closed), and how his pale pink lips were perpetually in a placid smile, but dimples would appear when Fuji was really amused.

He came to The Startling Conclusion one day during tennis practice early in his third year at Seigaku. He had just finished a match (the second-year non-Regular didn't stand a chance, and probably would have forfeited the game to Tezuka) and sipped water on a bench, watching Fuji return balls in a match against Kikumaru.

He sighed as Fuji darted to the back, his eyes alert and watching Kikumaru's movements. Tezuka thought he could hear Fuji's laugh in the back of his mind, the sound that could make him look up from his schoolwork or cheer him up on even the gloomiest of days.

Well, at least he established that he was going insane.

He recalled Fuji's word from earlier today, as they walked to history class. Fuji had pointed to a couple in their year, a nice girl named Mizuko and her apparent-boyfriend, Yuya, passing them in the hall, holding hands.

"Aww, look Tezuka, they're in love," he said happily.

Tezuka had barely spared the couple a glance, and he agreed in his silent way. Fuji always understood.

Love?

Was Tezuka in love?

What was love, anyways?

Tezuka's racket clattered to the ground as The Startling Conclusion became all too clear.

Love was undefined, but Tezuka Kunimitsu knew that he was definitely in love with Fuji Shuusuke.

He started getting up, to do something to distract him, taking that Startling Conclusion and shoving it to the back of his mind, fitting it in with the rest of his thoughts and memories that should never be touched.

He was _not_ in love with Fuji.

_Denial_, his mind hissed.

Tezuka didn't want to know what would happen the day he found the strength to unlock his vault of Fuji in his mind, or it simply overflowed.

--

Tezuka might always have been like that, watching and waiting for Fuji, until the end of time, had it not been for Kikumaru Eiji's sharp eyes and good persuasion skills, as well as the closet-pushover that was Echizen Ryoma.

* * *

_Six years ago…_

"Hey, buchou?"

Tezuka, buchou of Seigaku High's legendary tennis team, turned to look at the tennis prodigy Echizen Ryoma, annoyed that he had to look away from a delectable-looking Fuji gracefully executing a Higuma Otoshi.

"You like Fuji-senpai, don't you?"

This floored Tezuka. "Why do you ask?" he inquired calmly.

"You always watch him on the courts," the freshman replied steadily. "You're also in a better mood when he's around and you get pissed off when you see him flirting with other guys."

Tezuka wondered if he really was being that obvious.

"Nobody's setting me up," Ryoma continued, rather impatiently. "It's just driving me insane. If you like him, then do something about it."

"If that's the case, then no, I don't like Fuji," was all Tezuka said in a distant voice.

Ryoma shrugged and slung his racket over his shoulder before trotting off. "I only needed a 'yes' or a 'no', y'know."

However, Ryoma smirked as he caught the absence of the usual clipped and precise syllables Tezuka used when he talked – this meant that Tezuka was lying, and Ryoma was right.

Ryoma was ambushed on his way to the vending machine to buy a can of Ponta by one lurking Kikumaru Eiji.

"Ochibi!" Eiji whispered, not so subtly. "What did Tezuka-buchou say?"

Ryoma checked to see if the coast was clear, then whispered to Eiji's eager ear, "He says he doesn't, but it's definitely denial. So we're good with buchou. But hurry up and ask Fuji-senpai," he complained.

"Hai, hai," Eiji mumbled. "Hoi hoi! Our daisakusen is going to be a success!"

"Mada mada dane," was all Ryoma said as he trekked on towards the soda can machine.

* * *

_Back to present times_…

"Don't forget your scarf," Fuji admonished as the couple pulled on their coats to take the metro downtown to meet with the rest of the team.

"Thanks," Tezuka said, as Fuji looped the warm scarf around his neck and, clasping his gloved hand in his, pulled him out the door.

* * *

_Six long years ago…_

"Fuuuuji!"

Fuji stopped and turned, smiling when he saw Eiji run up to him. "What's up, Eiji?"

"Nothing much, but do you want to go eat something before we go home? There's this really awesome café just a few blocks down, and Mariko-chan said that they served super good cake!"

Fuji couldn't refuse Eiji, even when he did need to go back home and start his history essay. "Sure, that sounds great."

"Yayyyy!" Eiji cheered, starting to tug at Fuji's arm to hurry him up.

--

"Ahhh, it looks so yummy," Eiji cried, his eyes wide in amazement at the chocolate cake the waitress had just delivered to the table he sat in with Fuji.

"Don't look at it, eat it," Fuji advised through a mouthful of his wonderfully buttery coffee crumb cake.

"It tastes even better…" Eiji sighed, savoring the taste.

The two friends chatted for a few minutes until Eiji (not so casually) asked, "Nya, Fuji, do you like Tezuka-buchou?"

Fuji froze, with his cappuccino halfway to his lips.

"Why do you want to know?" he asked slowly.

"We-el, you always watch him when he plays tennis, you look at him every ten seconds in class, you smile more when he's around, and you're not so sadistic to him compared to us," Eiji rattled off. He tactfully didn't mention that Tezuka pretty much reciprocated those actions to Fuji (even the sadistic part – Eiji heard Inui mumble something about how if Fuji smiled at Tezuka prior to practice starting, Tezuka would order approximately ten less laps).

"Oh…I see."

"Well, I think that if you like him, you should do something about it!" Eiji exclaimed, his eyes wide and peering at Fuji's face with the cerulean eyes closed as usual.

Fuji swirled the contents of his cappuccino, as a certain captain's face materialized on the window the pair sat next to, instead of the bustling crowds of people rushing past each other on the sidewalk.

"Maybe I will."

A light bulb blinked on in Eiji's mind, and he fought to keep from grinning, instead choosing to noisily slurp some more of his soda as Fuji gazed off into space.

_Successful plan, activate!_ He squealed with glee in his mind.

Kikumaru Eiji might be childish and slightly slow, but for all of the years he knew Fuji, he could pick out when his friend was telling the truth (mostly – unless Fuji was being particularly sadistic).

Eiji's loud straw appeared to have jolted Fuji from his reverie and he cocked his head and smiled at Eiji. "Your chocolate cake looks absolutely lovely. Do you mind if I have some?"

Eiji smiled and pushed it towards Fuji. "Go ahead."

* * *

_Present day…_

"Tezuka-buchou! Fuji-senpai!" Momo called from the table in the restaurant as Tezuka and Fuji entered. The loud Momoshiro still hadn't got out of the habit of addressing Tezuka and Fuji without the honorifics.

"Momo!" Fuji exclaimed. "And Echizen too. What a surprise. The last I heard from you, I heard you were in California? I didn't expect that you'd make it back in time for Christmas."

"This loudmouth just _had_ to get on the four a.m. flight to Japan," Ryoma grumbled from where he was pushing around a piece of sashimi. "Started bawling sentimental crap when I didn't want to go. California was _warm_. And had good tennis courts," he added as an afterthought.

Momo blushed slightly. "I missed the team!" he defended, even though as Fuji surveyed the table, he saw that there were only six instead of nine.

Tezuka, as if knowing what Fuji was thinking, sat down next to Oishi and asked, "Where's Taka, Inui, and Kaidoh?"

"Taka can't come due to restaurant duties, Inui decided not to fly back from Massachusetts, where he's conducting experiments at MIT, and Kaidoh said he had to go meet the parents of his girlfriend."

Momo nearly spit out his ramen. "Mamushi got a girlfriend?"

Ryoma elbowed his manager. "Be nice, Momo-senpai." Apparently, Echizen slipped back into his schooldays habits when surrounded by old teammates.

Momo chose to ignore him. "Haha, I bet she isn't even hot." Smirking, he dove face first into his ramen again.

The team members didn't do presents and gifts at their Christmas gathering, because all of them knew (but would most likely never admit) that the company of each other and the nostalgia of old times was the greatest present of all.

* * *

_Six years is a long time._

"Hello?" Tezuka picked up the phone, wondering who could be calling on an early Saturday morning. Hopefully, nothing bad had happened to the team…

"Fuji-senpai wants you to meet him at three this afternoon at the park," Echizen's bored voice filtered out of the phone. Tezuka immediately knew that he was talking about the park right next to Seigaku where the team usually met up for activities and such.

"Why?" Tezuka asked, puzzled.

"Dunno," Echizen replied, yawning. "I'm just the messenger because Fuji-senpai said something about not being able to call you or something." The line clicked off, and Tezuka stared at the phone for a few minutes, before hanging up as well.

--

"Fujiiiiii!" Eiji squealed, and Fuji grinned upon hearing his friend's voice over the phone. "Hello, Eiji."

"Do you have anything to do at three o'clock this afternoon?"

"No," Fuji replied. "Just homework due on Monday, but I can do that tomorrow. Why?"

"Tezuka told me to tell you to meet him at the park this afternoon," Eiji said in one breath.

Fuji hummed, and readily agreed. "Okay, thanks Eiji," he said.

He could almost feel Eiji's grin. "No problem! See you around!"

As Fuji hung up the phone, he didn't think it odd at all that Tezuka would rather relay a message through Eiji or another team member than call Fuji in person. He was simply mysterious and taciturn like that.

As he busied himself with his math homework, he wondered what Tezuka would possibly want to talk to him about.

--

"Tezuka!" Fuji called, trotting up to where Tezuka sat on a bench under a tree.

"Fuji," Tezuka said, inclining his head in greeting.

An awkward silence passed, until Fuji spoke. "What did you want to talk to me about, Tezuka?"

The tennis captain frowned slightly. "I thought you wanted to talk to me about something."

Fuji, confused, blinked his eyes open. "Eiji said that you wanted to meet me here at three."

Tezuka quickly caught on and suppressed a groan. "Echizen said that _you_ wanted to meet me here at three."

Fuji allowed a quick smile to dart out. "Well, it looks like we've been tricked," he murmured amusedly.

"You think it's funny?" Tezuka asked, a little surprised.

"Mildly," Fuji replied. "Although we should have a talk with them on Monday."

"Before tennis practice," Tezuka agreed.

Eiji and Ryoma, who were hiding in the bushes behind Fuji, looked at each other and gulped.

"This isn't working out, Kikumaru-senpai," Ryoma hissed.

"Shut up," Eiji snapped back, parting the leaves again. "They started talking again!"

"So," Tezuka started, his throat suddenly dry and sticky. "Do you want to go to my place? It's closer than yours," he said, and quickly closed his mouth once he realized how stupid that sounded.

In fact, he would have blushed, except Tezuka Kunimitsu did not blush (although with Fuji, who knew what would happen).

"Sure," Fuji's melodic voice said. "It's not like I have anything to do at home." He smiled, to assure Tezuka that it was fine, and some of the tension in Tezuka's face dissipated with his smile.

Tezuka lifted himself off the bench and fell into stride with Fuji as they walked back to Tezuka's house.

--

"What now, Kikumaru-senpai?"

"They left to go to…Tezuka's house?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Let's follow them!"

"Let's not—Kikumaru-senpai, wait up!"

--

Fuji's mind wandered as he fell in step with Tezuka. It was always like this as they walked back home from Seigaku, until they parted ways – Tezuka to walk up the hill to his neighborhood, and Fuji to turn left and continue walking.

The silence was heavy, but not uncomfortably so. Fuji didn't mind silence, especially not with Tezuka.

His closed eyes opened just slightly to see blurs of colors in the peripheral vision of his left eye. The golden-brown mess that was Tezuka's hair, the black pants Tezuka wore, and the light blue button-down that was appropriate for brisk October weather.

He let out a miniscule sigh. He had fallen in love with the stoic tennis captain years ago, but had only just realized it last year. At first, he hadn't been quite sure of what that particular feeling was – that feeling of warmth that spread throughout his body and tingled his toes and his fingers whenever Tezuka's eyes met his, whenever Tezuka directed a rare, rare smile to him, or when their fingers would brush as Fuji handed Tezuka his tennis racket, or a pencil.

He had watched anime, and read manga about characters falling in love, and he pretty much called everything love without really thinking of it anymore. Love was just _there_, right?

He didn't really know what love was, and he didn't realize it until he fell in love himself.

Tezuka Kunimitsu was quite handsome, yes, but he preferred to listen instead of talk, and many complained that the silence they endured with Tezuka was irritable. To Fuji, the silence conveyed all – it amplified their movements and he could observe Tezuka without having to say something first.

They had been friends for what seemed like forever, the best of friends.

The day Fuji realized that he was in love with Tezuka Kunimitsu, he went home and promptly announced that he was gay.

Frankly, he was a little surprised that his family wasn't that surprised. Of course, his parents made a big fuss over it at first, but it died down soon enough. Yuuta could care less, and Yumiko just smiled secretly and told her little brother congratulations.

For all that Fuji did on his part, he knew deep inside of him, in that part of his heart that hurt a little bit when he heard Tezuka's name or saw the person himself, him and Tezuka could never be. Tezuka couldn't possibly be gay – he knew that the other boy's parents had high hopes for him to get married to a respectable girl with class, and settle down and live out a peaceful life.

Being gay obviously didn't fit into the category of "a peaceful life", at least in the eyes of Tezuka's parents.

Tezuka's voice brought Fuji out of his thoughts, and he quickly registered that they were approaching Tezuka's modest house.

"—parents are out until about six, shopping and running other errands," Tezuka explained.

"Unlike my house," Fuji sighed. "Yuuta's always running in and out, my okaa-san doesn't like to leave the house much, otou-san is usually away on business trips, and Yumiko likes to pop in unexpectedly."

"The benefits of being an only child, I guess," Tezuka replied, shrugging as he held the front door open for Fuji to go in first.

"I'll make some tea," Tezuka murmured, slipping past Fuji into the kitchen.

Fuji toed off his sneakers and strolled around the Tezukas' living room, admiring the pieces of Japanese art Tezuka's father liked the collect, and the rare family pictures that lined the mantle.

His eyes softened as they fell on a particular one of Fuji and Tezuka as they entered middle school at Seigaku – bright smiles on their faces (at least on Fuji's; Tezuka sported a ghost of a smile teasing at his lips), schoolbags and tennis rackets swinging on their shoulders, and displaying neatly pressed new school uniforms.

The one time Fuji had inquired about this one picture among all of the other pictures of the three Tezukas, staring sternly at the camera that lined the mantle, Tezuka had merely shrugged and looked away, muttering "I asked for it."

Fuji heard the shrill whistle of the tea kettle, and the click of the stove as Tezuka turned it off.

With Tezuka, Fuji lived on sounds, but not with words. It was the indistinct sounds, like the clink of cups as Tezuka took them out of the cupboard and the sound of pouring water that helped convey more of Tezuka's personality to Fuji than words, in all the years they had known each other.

"Thank you," Fuji murmured, accepting the warm cup of tea from Tezuka as he sank down onto the couch. He did always enjoy a cup of freshly made green tea.

Tezuka sat down on the couch as well, next to Fuji. They sat in a companionable silence, sipping their tea.

Fuji was never one to complain about the silence when talking about Tezuka.

--

"Tezuka's making tea," Eiji hissed.

"You know, we don't have to talk so soft—" Ryoma began, but was immediately shushed by Eiji.

"They can't even hear us, they're inside the house!" Ryoma argued, but he still dropped his voice to a harsh whisper.

"Whatever, it lends a certain aspect to this adventure," Eiji replied haughtily, turning his keen eyes to the windows of the house opposite the tree they lurked behind.

"_Your_ adventure," Ryoma scoffed, slurping down perhaps the sixth can of Ponta he'd had today. Stalking was a very stressful job.

"Yes, well, it better be successful," was all Eiji said in reply, his eyes gleaming.

--

Fuji broke the silence they had been sitting in for the past 15 minutes by setting his teacup down on the table.

"You know, Eiji told me something quite odd last week," he said conversationally.

"Hmm?"

"Well, he asked me if I liked you."

Tezuka's mind immediately jumped into overdrive. Fuji…liked him?

"And you said?" Tezuka asked, his insides growing hot with anticipation, although he tried to school his features into as impassive a face as possible.

"I neither confirmed it nor denied it," Fuji said. "I was hoping that one day, you could help me answer that question."

"I overheard Echizen saying something about how you said you didn't like me, but it was obvious you were lying and in denial," Fuji explained, his voice tinged with slight amusement. "His voice is rather distinctive."

"The thing is, Tezuka," Fuji breathed, blue eyes staring directly at Tezuka, "I do like you. Love you, even. But if you can't love me, then I can't love you."

"I do like you," Tezuka managed through dry lips.

I love you.

Fuji's blue eyes stared up at him, framed by long lashes, and the moment felt so right as tension tingled in the air.

Tezuka's hand hesitantly reached up to rest gently on the sides of Fuji's face, and Fuji didn't flinch or shy away from his touch.

When their lips finally touched, Tezuka marveled at how soft and smooth Fuji's lips were, and the kiss was hesitant, cautious, until Fuji moaned and kissed back with fervor, this lips firmly locking together and Tezuka forgot to think from there on.

When they parted, Tezuka smiled shyly at Fuji, and Fuji smiled back, his eyes closed and his lips swollen from the kiss.

"Fuji…"

"Shuusuke."

Tezuka nodded, in silent agreement. "Shuusuke, be my boyfriend?"

Fuji laughed. "You're so formal, Tezuka—"

"Kunimitsu," Tezuka interrupted.

"Kunimitsu," Fuji amended himself. "But, yes, I will."

As Fuji melted into Tezuka's arm and kissed him again, Tezuka dazedly thought, as all his emotions spilled out, that he had never imagined it would be Fuji that unlocked the vault of memories in the back of his mind and scattered them out, leaving him vulnerable.

--

His hat pulled low over his head, Echizen Ryoma thought it was a shame that Tezuka-buchou and Fuji-senpai hadn't drawn the curtains shut, because this certainly would make some juicy gossip in school, not to mention blackmail.

"Well, your plan was a success, Kikumaru-senpai," Ryoma drawled upon seeing Fuji tackle Tezuka for another kiss after a break in the action.

There was no sound from the acrobatic tennis player next to him.

"…Kikumaru-senpai?"

"Zzzz…" was the only reply.

Ryoma rolled his eyes in exasperation. "They're not that boring, are they?"

"Zzz…"

"You drag me all the way out here, and you fall asleep yourself," Ryoma scoffed, producing another can of Ponta from his bag and cracking it open.

* * *

_Present day_

"I'm so gonna beat you!" Momo bragged, eyeing Eiji from across the table. The two of them had decided to have a sushi-eating contest, for the sake of old times.

It was currently tied at Momo: 4, Eiji: 4.

The other years they had collapsed at the same time, or there was a surprise winner (Momo vowed to avenge the year that Kaidoh had participated and ate more sushi than a human could possibly eat and not explode).

"Go!" Ryoma announced, knocking over the empty can of Ponta that functioned as a makeshift starting gun.

Twenty minutes later, the pair was still going strong. Tezuka saw Fuji delicately transfer an ominous-looking green piece of sushi from his plate to Momo's plate when the other wasn't looking.

Momo picked up the green piece of sushi, popping it into his mouth like all the other pieces he had consumed. His face promptly flamed, his eyes bugged out and started watering, and his head clattered on the table.

"Wa…sa…bi…" he choked out, before passing out completely.

"Fuji," Oishi admonished, but not too sternly.

"Hoi hoi!" Eiji cheered, chewing his last piece of sushi. "I win!"

--

Half an hour later, when Momo had recovered from his wasabi-induced fainting spell, yelled at Fuji for making him lose (he was on a good streak too!), and sullenly tossed a piece of sashimi at Eiji's head, the group started to leave and part ways.

"Come and visit again sometime," Tezuka told Oishi warmly as the Golden Pair pulled on their coats. "You're always welcome in our apartment."

"As are you in ours," Oishi replied. "Kyoto is really beautiful in the spring."

"Good luck at the U.S. Open," Fuji told Ryoma.

"He'll win it, no problem," Momo bragged.

Ryoma kicked Momo in the shin. "Thanks, Fuji-senpai."

Fuji smiled at Ryoma. "I'll be watching and cheering for you."

The group finally tramped out into the snow ("Snowball fight!" Eiji yelled, but only he and Momo actually engaged in actually lobbing snow at each other) and parted ways – Momo and Echizen to take a taxi to the airport, Oishi and Eiji to take a bus to the train station to return to Kyoto, and Tezuka and Fuji to ride the metro back to this apartment.

Amid a chorus of goodbyes, Tezuka and Fuji finally turned their backs on some of their dearest friends, and trekked through the snow (more slush now) to the metro station.

"Making Momo eat a piece of wasabi sushi wasn't very nice," Tezuka murmured, catching Fuji's hand and entangling his fingers with his own.

"You have to admit, it was funny though," Fuji said, his eyes surveying the gray skies above, probably hoping for more snow.

"Fine, it _was_ amusing," Tezuka conceded.

--

On the day of their graduation from Todai, Tezuka caught Fuji watching him, his eyes closed, the mortar board on his head. The tassel flopped into the fringe of his eyelashes, and Fuji grinned at Tezuka as the president of Todai droned on in his speech.

Later, as Fuji hugged Tezuka after they had received their diplomas (they were now official college graduates!), Tezuka knew that he could spend the rest of his life with this man.

--

Later that afternoon, after a nice nap on the sofa, with Fuji weight resting comfortably by his side, Tezuka used his (surprising, as Fuji teasingly put it) culinary skills to create a rich, creamy hot chocolate that warmed the very insides.

When he kissed Fuji, Tezuka could taste the cream he had added to the cocoa.

The doorbell rang as Fuji had just switched on the radio to holiday tunes. Tezuka strode over to the door and opened it.

"Tezuka Kunimitsu?" The deliveryman asked, indicating a large box on the ground next to him.

"That's me," Tezuka replied, quickly signing his name on the clipboard the deliveryman offered.

Tezuka picked up the crate the deliveryman had deposited, finding it surprisingly light. "Have a merry Christmas," he told the deliveryman, who tipped his hat and echoed the sentiments.

"What's that?" Fuji wanted to know as Tezuka deposited it in the middle of the living room.

"Your Christmas present," Tezuka said, a smile tugging at his lips as Fuji's eyes lit up. "Open it quickly, now."

Fuji, curious, opened the box, and immediately gasped with delight as he peered into the box.

He carefully reached into the box, and lifted out a squirming, ecstatic golden retriever puppy.

"This is too cute," Fuji exclaimed as the puppy immediately started licking Fuji's nose and making small whining sounds of delight at being released from captivity.

"You've said you wanted a pet for the longest time," Tezuka said. "I checked with the landlord, and he said pets were fine as long as they didn't make a lot of noise. The pet store owner told me that Aiko-chan here was the best-trained one that didn't bark a lot."

"Aiko-chan is the perfect name for you," Fuji addressed the newly named Aiko-chan, who wagged her tail as if in agreement.

"You make what I gave you for Christmas look really bad," Fuji admonished, rubbing Aiko-chan's belly. Tezuka could already see that the dog was going to be terribly spoiled.

"No, I really liked your Christmas present," Tezuka argued. And he had – it was one of the newest fishing rods on the market, in an improved version that Tezuka himself had not even known about. He planned to test it out as soon as the lakes had thawed and the fish were lively again.

"But, I have another present for you," Tezuka continued.

"What did I do to get two presents this year, Santa?" Fuji teased. "Was I extra nice and not naughty at all?"

Tezuka's sweaty fingers clutched the small box in his jacket pocket before slowly drawing out the velvet box that the rest of his life rested on and swooping to one knee.

"Fuji Shuusuke, I love you and I always will. I knew that from the moment I fell in love with you, I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you."

"Will you do me the greatest honor you could ever do me – will you marry me?"

Tezuka mentally kicked himself for not sticking to the planned speech he had written and worn to a frayed block of paper that had rested next to the small black velvet box in his pocket.

Fuji however, didn't seem to mind, and his mouth dropped open in surprise and blue eyes flashed open.

"Yes, Kunimitsu, yes! Yes, yes, yes…" Fuji cried, throwing himself into Tezuka's arms as Aiko-chan ran playfully around them, her tail beating a soft rhythm onto the floor.

It was only after a prolonged kiss, in which Tezuka almost lost his grip on the black velvet box, when Fuji noticed that said box contained two rings, both a simple gold band.

He extracted the slightly bigger one, and with trembling fingers, slid it onto Tezuka's finger, admiring the way it glinted and reflected the light.

Tezuka repeated the action to Fuji, and his hands shook as well in the intimacy of the moment.

They admired their ring-adorned hands for a few moments before Fuji started laughing (through were they tears?) and grabbed Tezuka and kissed him senseless.

* * *

After announcing their engagement, Tezuka sat down and composed a lengthy thank-you email to both Echizen Ryoma and Kikumaru Eiji.

-_fin_-

**A/N:** Dear receiver, I hope you like this fic! I'm sorry if it's too fluffy XD Or too long...I went about six times over the minimum word limit -___-"

Thank you to my two lovely betas, ATS and MB (mysterious beta, although I can probably guess who Rea sent my fic to). In a bit of explanation, that MB pointed out, I chose Ryoma instead of Momo to conspire with Eiji because I couldn't really picture Momo knowing Tezuka that well and asking him the "big question". :P

Bleh. And Aiko the puppy was male at first. Hehe. Happy Holidays!

- Peppermint Kiss (Minty)

Another note: Melo! I just found out that this fic was for you. In that case, gomenasai for anything I did wrong. Happy holidays (again!)


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